Mobile hotspots are gaining widespread popularity. In general, a mobile hotspot is typically (but not necessarily) a portable device that interfaces between one form of wireless communication and another form of wireless communication, so that devices communicating with the hotspot using one form of wireless communication can gain access to network resources via the other form of wireless communication. In typical practice, for instance, a mobile hotspot will include a cellular wireless radio (e.g., a CDMA, GSM, WiMAX, LTE, or HSDPA radio) and a local wireless radio (e.g., an IEEE 802.11 WIFI or BLUETOOTH radio) and will be arranged to transmit wirelessly via each one of those radios the communications that it receives wirelessly via the other radio. Conveniently with this arrangement, a user device such as a portable computer or gaming system can obtain cellular network connectivity through local wireless communication with the hotspot, without a need for the user device itself to include a cellular radio.